(TibetanReview.net, Mar 14, 2009) — Even the tiny Tibetan quarter in Sichuan’s capital Chengdu was placed under overwhelming security around Mar 10, the Tibetan uprising anniversary, reported AP Mar 11. Police with rifles and machine guns guarded checkpoints at every entrance to the Tibetan quarter in this city of 10 million, it said. Inside, police cars were reported to be parked every few yards, their lights flashing as dozens of troops marched by monks and other shoppers.

Only public buses and cars with resident permits were being allowed in. By early evening, the streets are empty, the shops shuttered, the report added

“We are suffocating,” a Tibetan shopkeeper was quoted as saying as monks looked over religious artifacts.

The report confirmed that authorities began barring foreigners from Tibet and Tibetan communities in Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu provinces in Feb 2009 as part of the security preparations this year.